Heroes of the Wrong Time
by Drunken-Giraffe
Summary: The Next-Generation kids are sick of living in their parents' shadows. Find out what happens when they take matters into their own hands and discover that what they have gotten themselves into is way bigger than they ever could've imagined.
1. Politicians These Days

Paste your document here...

**Politicians These Days**

The sound of those fancy shoes on the fancy floor was starting to get on her nerves. This was ridiculous.

What did they think they were doing?

She was just buying a pair of maternity robes in Diagon Alley, and a bunch of people from the Ministry dragged her away.

Surely they had no right to do that. Or if they were going to be so rude, they could at least explain why they were treating her like a criminal.

I mean, sure, she was sort of a criminal – they all were – but no one else knew that. Not even their parents.

The huge wooden doors had been opened.

She inspected her surroundings, even though she knew exactly where she was.

It was a huge room, with one big, wooden chair in the middle. Around it was sort of like an arena, with people sitting on benches, to the left and right of the podium in the middle.

That seat was empty. And she assumed the seat in the middle was for her, unless she had been appointed to some new, important Ministry job that she wasn't aware she had in the first place, the podium seat wasn't for her.

She was pulled into the middle of the room. Though, she tried to stand her ground, the force was too strong.

She felt all the eyes in the room were trained on her. Her palms felt sweaty. What was going on?

She was pushed into the seat. It was hard and cold, and quite uncomfortable. And she knew that she wasn't the only one who thought that while sitting in this chair.

There was a prolonged, awkward silence.

They were waiting for whoever was supposed to be sitting in the podium. She hoped it would be someone she knew. Though she thought she recognised a few people sitting on the benches, but she just couldn't place them. She knew that they were Aurors anyway – or members of The Wizengamot. And as there were a few empty places on the benches, she still had some hope of seeing a familiar face.

Suddenly, she heard the footsteps from before, coming from behind her. Though they were slightly different, lighter possibly.

Before she knew it, everyone was standing.

She wasn't going to stand, not until she knew what was going on.

But then to her relief, she saw that familiar face she was looking for, and stood straight away.

She felt herself calm down a bit. That podium was for the Minister of Magic. Someone who would no-doubt be on her side.

She wasn't really worried all that much anyways.

It's not like they would find anything out. The whole thing was so top secret, that they had to change meeting locations every time.

And it's not like anyone expected _them_ to be criminals. They were supposed to be the ones _fighting_ the bad guys, not _being_ the bad guys. But I guess, that was the whole brilliance of the plot. No one suspected a thing.

The familiar voice ushered everyone to sit down, without even looking at anyone.

She didn't think he saw her yet, or else he would have said something.

"So," he began "What's the first item on the agenda?"

One of his aides answered: "Case file number two-hundred and ninety-eight, Minister."

"Are we ready to begin?" he asked.

"Just waiting for the ones on patrol, Sir." the aide answered.

"Well someone can fill them in when they get here. Shall we begin?" the Minister proceeded to open the file. His eyes began to widen, as a look of shock spread across his face. He looked up from the file, directly towards her. She just shrugged, because she really was confused.

Then he exclaimed quite loudly to the rest of the room, with anger in his voice: "_Why _on earth are we arresting Victoire Weasley?"


	2. A Very Weasley Christmas

Paste your document here...

Prologue:

The family were all sitting in the cosy living room of the Burrow one lovely Christmas Eve. There was chattering coming from every direction, though people could still keep track of what the others were saying.

It was the way the Weasley-Potter clann worked. They could keep numerous conversations going at once, about things from dragons to cake recipes. Most people found it highly amusing to watch and impossible to fathom.

Everyone was there; Harry and Ron were chatting to Percy about any way they could improve the communication skills in the Auror Departement. Angelina, Ginny and Fleur were laughing as they watched George sneek up behind the three men and set off a Decoy-Detanator. Hermione and Audrey were complimenting their mother-in-law on her amazing mince-pies and Christmas cake while pretending to love listening to Celestina Warbeck on the Wireless. And Bill, Charlie and Arthur were each nursing a glass of Firewhiskey while arguing about whether James should get a haircut or not.

James – who was completely ignoring his Grandfather and Uncles' advice – was sitting on the couch beside his cousins Hugo and Louis. They were looking at the broom catalogues they had received through owl-post, hoping that they would see one of the amazing specimens under the Christmas tree.

Over on the stairs, Dominique, Albus, Lucy and Roxanne were playing a game of Exploding Snap, the game still very much alive in this generation. Everyone except Roxanne was completely covered in black dust – a few of them with singed eyebrows.

Lily was sitting on the ground, by her father's feet playing with her dolls and watching her cousins curiously, while hitting one of the doll's heads of the floor until it fell off. But continuing with her imaginary Tri-Wizard Tournament nonetheless.

Rose was standing over by the tiny bookshelf with her cousin Molly, both looking for a book to read and test each other on. They found a copy of "Fantastic Beasts, and Where to Find Them_," _and had begun to ask questions that any normal witch or wizard would find incredibly difficult to answer.

Freddie was – as usual – up to no good. He had been looking very mischievous all night, his mysterious eyes darting around the room, his cheeky grin playing on his face. Whenever he was asked by suspicious adults about what he was doing, he would act all innocent and pull a puppy-dog face and they would leave him be, because if they got in his way, his 'plan' would end up even more disastrous than it was bound to be.

Over by the window, away from everyone, Teddy and Victoire were whispering about something. No one questioned what they were whispering about, because they knew that they probably wouldn't get an answer. It had always been like that; they were inseperable. All of the adults in the family used to joke about the two being joined at the hip, which was completely true, but sometimes embarrassing. The family would have loved to hear that they were studying, but that would have been a lie. Victoire had her O.W.L's this year, but she wasn't planning on studying. She had her reasons.

They were sitting on the window seat with some parchment, a quill and ink. It did look like they were studying, but they had better ideas. Mrs Weasley called her children and grandchildren over to the table for dinner, but as they all got up, they fell over will a dull 'thud'.

"Freddie!" the whole family shouted. Freddie had tied everyone's shoe laces together and they had all fallen flat on their faces. Some – like Hermione – had been quick enough to Levitate the youngest children, to stop them from hitting their heads off the ground, but others had landed on top of one another and that made it very awkward for trying to get up.

"How does he do it?" Ron asked the other adults after everyone had gotten un-tangled and sat at the table.

"You're not actually asking that question, are you Ron?" Bill laughed at his younger brother "He's George's _son, _it's not like he was ever going to love studying!" Ron laughed at this too, as Mrs Weasley finished placing the many bowls of food on the _incredibly _long table.

"So Victoire, how's the studying going?" Hermione looked directly down the table.

"Oh, erm – yeah." She answered unsurely.

Teddy backed her up "She's studying all the time!" he exagerrated "Gets me to quiz her on everything!" he threw his hands up in the air, sending a few carrots to the floor.

During dinner, Victoire had begun to flick peas at Freddie, they would land in his curly, dark hair and then Teddy would laugh at him. He soon caught on and began to do the same to her and Teddy. None of the adults noticed, until Victoire hit Percy in the eye.

"Sorry Uncle Percy." She apologised, struggling to stifle her laughter.

"It's fine." He wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't said anything, because he was talking to about Ministry stuff – which was perfectly fine with Victoire, because she wouldn't have to endure a lecture about eating your vegetables, not using them as a weapon.

"So Ted," Hermione asked during dessert "how's Andromeda getting on?"

"Oh – erm, she's fine. Yeah, she's just, erm – yeah..." he finished awkwardly.

Hermione looked over to Harry and Ginny with her brow furrowed. Teddy never really stumbled over his words much, Hermione seemed to be the only one to notice this change. Harry and Ginny were trying to stop James shoving Albus' head into his mashed potatoes.

"Andy's gone to visit the Malfoys for a bit." Ginny whispered, after she had cleaned Albus' face off.

"Oh..." Hermione nodded, and continued to make sure Hugo was eating his vegetables.

But Ron just had to go and say "Oh, she's not bothering with _those_ snobs, is she?" Hermione and Ginny glared at him furiously and Harry raised his eyebrows so that they were almost touching his hairline. Ron just went back to stuffing his face with chicken legs.

Teddy laughed, it didn't really bother him that Ron wasn't fond of his maternal family. He found it mostly amusing, but there was always going to be that bit of him that was curious as to who they were. He'd heard stories about them, and they didn't sound like the friendliest bunch of people. But his grandmother seemed to think that they had changed and he was willing to take her word for it.

"Guess what!" a twelve year old Dominique said to the family.

"What!?" Lily shouted, thinking of it as a game.

"James has a girlfriend!" Dominique teased, causing James to stand up swiftly and knock over his plate.

"I do not!" he argued. Victoire took this opportunity to throw some mashed potato at her sister.

"Hey!" she shouted, wiping the food off of her face "Did you see what she did?!" she pointed to Victoire.

"I didn't see me do anything, did you Tedward?" Victoire asked Teddy.

"No, not a thing," he said innocently as they high-fived under the table.

Dinner was cleared up. All the family had to help, except George and Ron, who claimed they had cramps. Of course no one believed them, but they would just whine if they had to work, so it was a win-win situation.

All of the children went up to their room. On Christmas Eve, they usually all slept in the same bedroom, they didn't have to, but they chose to. It made everything that bit more exciting. And if they didn't, it probably wouldn't feel like Christmas at all.

The loud banging of footsteps could be heard up and down the stairs of the rickety house. Hermione and Fleur were trying to round all of the kids up and make them stay in the room. They weren't succeeding.

"I don't want to brush my teeth!" screeched eight year-old Lucy, sitting herself in the doorway of the bathroom. The group of teenagers and childrens' paths now being blocked by her.

"Lucy, you _must_ brush your teeth," said Hermione. Lucy looking at her, disbelievingly. "Or you'll be the last to open your presents tomorrow."

Lucy's face dropped. She stood up and skulked through the bathroom door, squirting the minty-paste on her toothbrush.

The Burrow had been extended, ever so slightly, to add a few extra rooms and bathrooms. The bedroom that the kids were staying in was rather large. There were bunk-beds and camp beds covering the surface of the carpeted floor, along with many toys and books. They did come with a lot of luggage.

"Freddie, step away from my bed!" said Roxy, knowing her older brother was probably planting something explosive there.

"I was just fluffing your pillows," he blinked innocently.

"_Of _course you were." she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Albus! Did you wash your face?!" called Ginny from downstairs, knowing that her son previously had mashed potato on him.

"Oh mother, why do you doubt me so?" said Albus, though it was unclear whether Ginny heard him or not.

"You know Al, you really do talk posh for a nine year old," said Roxy as she passed by.

"I'm only three years younger than you," he said, rather defensively.

"Relax Albus," said Rose, looking up from her book "I'm pretty sure that was a compliment." She snapped it shut and began to pull down her covers "I also have quite a mature vocabulary."

Dominique was running around the landing, trying to catch Victoire. Victoire must have taken something of her sister's, because she was taunting and teasing as she hopped from bed to bed.

James was attempting at wrestling Teddy on the floor. He had pushed Teddy onto the floor and was now smashing his still-growing fists against the sixteen year old's chest.

Lily was tucking all of her dollies and toys under her blanket and kissing them all goodnight.

Hugo ran down the stairs in his flannel pajamas and into the living room. He wanted to remind his Nana to put some treats out for Santa. He walked past the sparkling tree and decorations charmed to float around the room and climbed onto the sofa.

"Daddy, where's Nana Molly?" said Hugo, his thumb in his mouth.

"Oi! No sucking your thumb, or it'll disappear," Ron told his son, causing Hugo to remove his thumb from his mouth immediately. "And don't worry; she remembered the biscuits – "

"And – "

"_And _the carrots for Rudolph. Now up to bed."

"OK. Mewwy Christmas!"

"Thumb out! Mewwy Christmas, love you." He kissed his son on the cheek and sent him back up to the bedroom. Hermione had come down the stairs when she saw Hugo escaping, and now stood with her arms folded, at the end of the stairs. She kissed her son goodnight and walked over to the sofa.

"You shouldn't 'Mewwy Christmas' him," she scolded.

"Why not?" asked Ron, his voice getting a little bit higher-pitched.

"Because it's not good for his speech-development." She explained, folding her hands on her lap. George struggled to stifle a snicker. Earning himself a glare from Angelina aswell as Hermione.

Back up in the room, Fleur was finally getting everyone to settle down. She carried Louis on her hip, and even though he was the baby of the whole family, he still was maybe just a little bit too old for it.

"_Eet_ is time for bed, _mes chéris_!" Fleur called, her accent easier to understand because the children had grown up hearing it.

"Do we really have to?!" James heaved a sigh, his shoulders slouched, making his arms seem heavier than they were.

"Because _Papa Noël_ will not be able to deliver your _cadeaux_, _eef_ you do not sleep!"

"Do _you _know what mum and dad got me, Aunt Fleur?" said Freddie in his most innocent voice, batting his eyelashes.

"Now Freddie, why would I tell you _zat_?" she said, pinching his nose and using an equally sweet and innocent voice. Freddie huffed and made his way over to his bed.

Everyone had gotten settled down, though the kids were all still rather giddy.

"_Bonsoir, mes gingembres_!"

Various replies of "Bonsoir" "Goodnight" and "Merry Christmas" chorused from the children, as Fleur closed the door.

The second the door snapped shut, Teddy got up from his camp bed in the corner and walked over to it. He held up his finger and then began to whisper.

"OK, the coast is... clear!"

Victoire got up straight away and began rummaging around her bed; under her pillow, in her bag, looking for something.

"The coast is clear for what?" asked Molly, not liking that they were up to something.

"V?" Teddy raised his eyebrows to Victoire.

"Just a sec!" she replied, her head inside her bag. She was pulling out all sorts of random objects from inside it and throwing them across the room.

"What's with the toy dragon?" Roxy asked, holding up a stuffed orange dragon toy.

"Steve!" Victoire grabbed the dragon off her cousin and gave it a hug.

"V, back to business!" said Teddy in an urgent whisper.

"What business?" Rose asked, sharing the same worry as Molly. All of the kids seemed to be getting frustrated.

"Got it!" Victoire exclaimed.

"Got what?!" Lily screamed, thinking that it was an awfully exciting game.

"This," said Victoire, slightly out of breath.

"Give me that!" Dominique grabbed the object from her sister's grasp, obviously annoyed about whatever they were fighting over earlier.

"Dom, give it back now!" Teddy and Victoire had their wands pointed at Dominique now. All the kids were thinking the same thing, _This must be serious._

"It's only a bit of wood..." Dominique argued "Fine," she gave in and threw it to Teddy.

"Now that we have that matter settled, could everyone shut up for a second?" said Teddy, trying to quieten down the whispering Hugo and Louis. The whispering stopped and Teddy continued. "Me and Vic have something we need to talk to you all about."

"But Aunt Fleur said Santa wouldn't come if we didn't sleep!" Lucy interrupted.

"We'll only be a few minutes, OK?" Victoire told her. Lucy nodded.

"We have a proposition for you all," Teddy began.

"What _kind_ of proposition?" asked Roxy, stroking her imaginary goatee.

"I was getting to that," he said impatiently "For those of you who are attending; how's your school life?" he sat down on one of the beds and clasped his hands together.

"Cool, so far," said James, him only having spent a couple of months at Hogwarts.

"Fine." said Dom, not really paying attention.

"_Fun,_" Freddie said in that creepy, mysterious voice.

Roxanne rolled her eyes at her older brother. "Yeah, great. Why?"

"Yes, why the spontaneous question? I thought the answers would be pretty obvious," said Molly, finding Teddy's sudden interest rather strange.

"Because we," he said, gesturing to himself and Victoire "are concerned for your happiness."

Rose snorted at this. Teddy and Victoire's eyes snapped towards her. "Concerned for their happiness?"

"Yes?" Victoire said, giving her cousin that innocent questioning look.

"Why wouldn't they be happy?" Albus responded instead, both him and Rose being old enough to understand Hogwarts.

"Because, we're not." Said Teddy, looking down at his hands, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What do you mean you're "_Not happy at Hogwarts"?!_" James practically shouted, being told to quieten down immediately after.

"Well nothing's ever good enough." Victoire began to flip the wooden box in her hands.

"What do you mean?" asked Molly, finding slight pleasure in the fact that she was better than her cousin. Though not in a spiteful way.

"Do any of you," Teddy suddenly regained composure and looked at everyone in the room "ever get compared to your parents?"

"I've never really thought about it..." said James.

"Well of course you haven't, you're only in first year!" said Albus.

"Shut up, Al!" James argued. Albus, about to make another witty remark, was interrupted by Freddie.

"Yeah," everyone knew he wasn't agreeing with James. His voice lacked all heart and he looked quite sad.

"In what way Freddie?" Victoire asked her cousin, sounding sympathetic.

"Well no matter what prank I pull... it's never as good as dad's or Uncle Fred's."

"How? You're pranks are pretty dramatic." Said Dominique. It seemed that Freddie's sudden change in mood had attracted everyone's attention.

"Well, let's say that I set off fireworks from the shop in the Great Hall," he began "Sure people think it's great. But all the teachers and stuff say that 'Fred and George set off their fireworks during exams, and made them eat the teacher'!"

Everyone was gobsmacked at this confession of their usually strangely mysterious cousin.

"That's a prime example Freddie!" said Teddy. Victoire nodding in agreement.

"And we feel the _exact _same way." Victoire said, though not as cheerily as Teddy.

"Anyone else got an opinion on the matter?" Teddy asked

"I still don't understand what you're trying to get across." Said Molly, furrowing her brow.

"Mol, you're smart. But are you as smart as you're dad?" Victoire said, trying to focus on what Molly cared about most – intelligence.

"I don't know..." Molly looked away timidly.

"What's the prop-masition?" Louis asked, getting bored of all the school talk.

"Let's do the opposite." Teddy said this bluntly, causing the kids more confusion.

"The opposite to _what?_" James asked.

"Everything we're supposed to do."

"So, don't be high-achievers?" Freddie asked, interest brimming his voice.

"I guess you could put it that way..." Victoire shared the same mischievious glint as Teddy.

"So what do you want us to do!?" Dominique, whom everyone thought previously wasn't listening.

"Become Professional Trouble-Makers." Said Teddy, as though it was the most simple thing in the world.

"Note the 'Professional' bit." Victoire included.

"You mean like a gang?" Rose asked.

"Now you're getting it!" Teddy clapped.

"B-but I'm getting a job in the Ministry!" Molly exclaimed, furiously "I can't be working with a gang! I should just report you right now, instead of being done for treason!"

"We'd have jobs Molly. So as to not blow our cover."

"Oh, I get it." Freddie nodded "Do the crime, but not the time."

"You like it?" Victoire asked.

"I have to say that the offer is enticing. I never fancied working in the Ministry, or Gringotts for that matter. Too boring."

Some of the kids old enough to understand what was going on, rolled their eyes – of course Freddie would find that much paperwork boring.

"I don't know about this..." Albus said unsurely "What's there to gain from it?"

"It's only causing trouble for the sake of it." Rose added.

"Yeah... and what's in the box?" Roxy cocked her eyebrow.

"You'll all just have to wait and see, won't you?"

None of the Weasley/Potter children understood then what Teddy and Victoire meant. They – being the eldest – knew what it was like to have their talents unappreciated.

Freddie – being a year younger than Victoire – was beginning to understand. He had never been focused on his studies, and that seemed to rein in more criticism. His father didn't seem to mind, but Freddie found Teddy and Victoire's proposition interesting.

And even though Molly was hesitant at first, she understood where they were coming from. Her grades never quite compared to her father's, in some peoples' eyes, and she wasn't a prefect in fifth and sixth year, because she was deemed too studious. Not having enough friends didn't seem to be a beneficiary.

Soon enough, all of the kids were eager to be apart of their cousins' mischief. Whether it was for the same reasons mentioned, or another entirely, they found the idea quite rebellious.

And thus it was formed. An untitled organisation of criminal children just wanting to feel like they are important.


	3. Chapter 3: The Right Scene

_So, I'm sorry this chapter took so long! This chapter is set eleven years after the Prologue - the summer Louis, Lily and Hugo finish Hogwarts - so about a year-ish before the first chapter (the length of time will become clearer as the story progresses)_

_The POVs may alternate, or I might just decide to focus on what the one character is doing and build everyone elses' tales around that. I hope you enjoy this chapter and a review would be nice ;D_

**_Disclaimer: _**_I am not J.K Rowling and I do not profit from the writing of this FF :)_

**The Leaky Cauldron  
28th August**

**10.56am**

He lay the drink down on the counter, receiving the money with a warm smile before tending to another regular. Hannah bustled around behind him, grabbing glasses from the upper shelves and wiping them with a cloth.

"Louis, get more butterbeers out of the store please." Said Hannah, walking by him swiftly with a tray of tea in her hands.

"Will do, Mrs L." Louis threw the cloth he was using to clean onto the counter and went to the store room – a small room by the pantry where all of the drinks were kept – leaving the bar unattended for a moment. Well that is leaving the bar unattended except for Mel, but she was too busy reading _Witch Weekly _to notice anything.

When in the storeroom, he searched the shelves the bottles of butterbeer. They had been quite disorganised in the past few weeks, as Hannah had been busy readying school supplies for her two youngest children.

He grabbed the bottles he found dotted amongst the many shelves and placed them in a box to carry out to the bar.

Louis got Mel to take the box off him and begin to place the bottles on the shelves behind the bar, just so she was doing something other than reading about the latest fashion trends for wizarding youths. He walked back over to the bar, wiping down the surface with the damp cloth. The door from the Muggle streets of London creaked open as Louis' cousin Lily and her friend Beth Wood came in.

They pulled up a stool and began chatting idly amongst themselves, pretending Louis wasn't there.

"You girls want a drink?" Louis asked, trying not to act too familiar, but keeping up the 'wise barman' act all the same.

"Oh, hello," Lily replied, registering her cousins presence "Yes, I would like a butterbeer, if you don't mind?"

"Yes, and I would like a cup of tea." Said Beth, trying not to giggle.

"You girls not going for the stronger stuff?" Louis asked, readying their drinks, though hoping that Mel or Hannah would come along, because the one drink he couldn't make was tea.

"No," Lily waved the offer off "We may be of age now, but it's eleven o'clock in the morning."

"Yes, eleven o'clock. Twenty four hours until the schooltime rush is over." Louis sighed, feeling quite happy about the prospect.

"Twenty four?" Lily furrowed her brow.

"Many do some last minute shopping before the train, you know, in case they forgot anything." Beth explained. Lily nodded, taking a sip from her bottle.

"Excuse me while I go to the little girls' room." Beth said, knowing that if Louis was at the bar that she wasn't going to get her tea.

Once Beth left, and began jogging up the stairs, Lily took a quick sip of her butterbeer, before setting it down on the polished counter with a loud thud.

"You all ready for tonight?" Lily asked, an excited glint in her hazel eyes.

"Where are we meeting again?" said Louis, lifting Lily's bottle up and placing a coaster under it.

"Oh Louis, don't you ever listen?!" she said angrily, though she was whispering very quietly.

"I was, but then I got bored and forgot, because Molly was talking about Ministry stuff." Lily nodded in understanding, but shook the thought away and continued with their previous topic.

She began to whisper as quiet as humanly possible, all the while looking over her shoulder to see if Beth, Hannah, Mel, or any passers by were close enough to hear her explain to Louis what was going to happen that night.

**The Cat&Cucumber  
Nutground Street  
28th August**

**9.07pm**

"So you come around here much?"

"Depends. Why are you asking?"

"Oh, this just doesn't seem like the right scene for a girl like you."

"Oh, really? Well what _is _the right scene for a 'girl like me'?"

"Well – "

"Is he bothering you?" a tall man with wide shoulders and dark hair interrupted.

"Oh, no he wa – "

"I'll be off then."

"Wait! You didn't tell me what the right scene is for – "

"Maybe next time!" and with a hasty wink, and a pat on the man's shoulder, James walked swiftly away.

He nodded to the barman, indicating to put the drink on his tab and exited the bar.

The cool summer air brushed his face, blowing his messy black hair from his forehead. He shoved his hands in his pockets, turning the corner, down a small alleyway.

Many doors lined the alley, looking quite sinister for muggle establishments. The dripping water from the gutters above filled James' ears, reminding him of the clock ticking away until he had to meet up.

He heard two cats fighting in a nearby dustbin, the screeching making him think of the many Howlers his family had received when they were children.

When James reached the end of the alley he saw a metal door. He pulled at the bolts, trying to remeber what Albus had told him to do. The heavy-duty bolt should be pulled to the right, and the huge metal dial was to be twisted five notches to the left. He did as told and cranked the door open, sliding inside before closing it once more.

It was pitch black. So dark, he couldn't see his own hands. James felt around, clattering metal objects that he didn't recognise.

"Hello?" he called out, wondering if they really would stick to the plan. "Albus? You said to come here, I – "

The lights were flicked on.

"Did it not occur to you to use your wand?" asked Albus impatiently, climbing out from under a bench that filled most of the workshop.

"Well..."

"And did you really think it a good idea to shout out my name, when anyone could be here?!"

"Now you're shouting!" James argued.

"You are too!" said Albus through gritted teeth, before remembering his job.

"James forget it, we have to go now." Albus said, much quieter this time, interrupting James who wanted to continue the quarrel.

"OK. Where to?" James sighed, kicking a small tub of nails the rested at the foot of the bench.

"Come on," Albus led James through the small door to the left of the bench and opened it. They left the cramped workshop, flicking off the light switch, as to leave no clues of their presence behind.

The two brothers climbed the four flights of stairs in silence. The squeeky tapping of their feet on the linoleum filling every second. When Albus climbed the last step he walked over to another door and pushed it open, leading James into a multi-story carpark.

The carpark was completely empty except for one black Jeep with blacked out windows and a fake registration plate. The two walked side by side until they reached the car, James got in the passenger seat and Albus in the back.

"What kept you?" Roxy asked, from her place behind the steering wheel.

"James."

"Albus."

"Stop your lovers' quarrel!" Said Rose impatiently, looking through a notebook on her lap, beside Albus.

Roxy started the car, speeding out of the carpark, twisting down ramps and bouncing over speed bumps.

"Did you put the tracker on him?" Roxy asked, turning the car around a tight corner.

"Yup, though if I had stayed any longer, he probably would've clocked me," said James, punching the air in front of him. When they emerged from the carpark, James pointed left, and they picked up a steady speed on the almost deserted road.

Rose and Albus sat in the back seat, looming over a piece of parchment, tracing a moving dot with their fingers.

"Right." Albus told Roxy, and she obeyed, swinging around the bend by a supermarket.

They had now gone past the bar James had vacated so hurriedly earlier, not giving it another glance.

"That's it!" exclaimed Rose, pointing to the car approximately ten metres ahead of them.

"OK, now keep on it, but don't get too close or they will suspect something." Albus instructed, again, Roxy did as she was told. The red sports car they were following turned a corner, but before they turned it Rose stopped her cousins.

"Headlights off! Haven't you ever followed anyone before?" James flicked them off and Roxy proceeded around the corner, keeping tail on the vehicle.

**73 Ashwood Grove  
London  
28th August**

**9.42pm**

Lucy thought the lifestyle her sister and cousins led was one of glamour and excitement. Lucy was now sitting in some shrubbery behind a shed, how much more glamour could you get?

Freddie wriggled beside her. His gangly frame not suiting the squatting form it had to take. Molly and Victoire were sitting side by side, whispering about what they were about to do. They had had disillusionment charms placed on them before they left, but that didn't mean that someone wouldn't find them eventually because of Freddie's constant fidgeting.

They were waiting for the call, the call from Albus to give them all the information they needed, and maybe a bit more.

A vibrating sound came from Molly's ear, a small voice could be heard coming from it. The three of them climbed onto each other to hear the message.

"You know what's going on?" Hugo asked, his voice magnifying so they could all hear better, causing Molly to wince and pull the device from her ear.

"They haven't contacted us at all," answered Molly "You?"

"Nope, but if they don't get cracking soon, we're gonna have to postpo – "

"No way!" Freddie and Victoire objected in unison.

"If they don't contact any of us by 48 minutes past, we're calling it off." This was met by even more objections from Freddie and Victoire, Lucy contributing many herself. But Molly, forever being the voice of reason, agreed with Hugo.

"He's right; we'll only mess things up if we don't go ahead with the plan." She sighed. Lucy could tell that her sister was disappointed.

"If Freddie can get the explosives, I'm sure I can bust in their and get it without a combination," said Victoire.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea Vic..." said Dominique, it seemed she had taken over for Hugo.

"No, we can do it!" Freddie insisted "If we can get the fuses around the safe, we might just be able to contain the minor sort of explosion thingy – "

"No Freddie! It's not safe!" said Molly "We are not going to do anything until we get the combination, OK?"

"Fine." Victoire and Freddie sighed.

They sat the for another five minutes, and then Molly proclaimed 'Game Over'. They crept out from behind the shed, to the nearest apparation point.

"Everybody ready?" said Molly, fixing her earpiece. She looked rather business-like, not that anyone would see her unless they knew she was there – though it would still be hard, seeing as how well they blended in.

"Yes." Said Freddie and Victoire glumly.

"Mmhhmm," squeaked Lucy, as apparating still made her rather nervous.

Molly disappeared with a _crack_, followed by a pale Lucy. Next, of course, was Freddie and Victoire's turn, but they stayed put.

"We have a few minutes before she realises that us not arriving isn't an accident," said Victoire, hurrying back to the garden they previously sat in and making a beeline for the back door. Freddie followed her, rooting in the pockets of his trench coat as he ran.

Victoire began to pull hair grips from her hair, causing the strawberry blonde waves to cascade down her shoulders, and fall into her eyes. She blew at a strand that was blocking her view while fiddling with the lock.

"You tried _alohamora_?" Freddie raised an eyebrow, while still rooting in his coat.

"I tried it when we got here," replied Victoire as though it was obvious "This guy's not stupid... he has pretty heavy duty stuff here."

Freddie had found what he wanted in his many pockets, and was now waiting for Victoire who was fiddling with the lock, and casting numerous spells on it.

"How much longer is this gonna take?" he whined, "Molly's gonna show up any second now!"

"Hold your horses Fredster," Victoire replied, now lying down on her back, attempting to open the lock. "It must be like a permanant sticking charm or someth – "

"_Bombarda Maxima!_" shouted Freddie, aiming his wand at the spot just above Victoire's head.

"Blimey Freddie!" she screamed, though before she could scold him any further, he clapped a hand over her mouth. There was a humming noise filling the air, though only as a background noise, because the barking of dogs had made a very clear impression on the two cousins. "Ouch!"

"We need to be quiet!" Victoire whispered urgently, slapping her cousin's hand away and picking up her wand which had fallen on the ground in the previous struggle.

"You bit me!" Freddie complained, glaring at his cousin, though she could hardly notice, because of how dark it was and how well the disillusionment charm made him blend into the background.

"At least the door's open," she told him, peering through the crack in the hinges that Freddie's spell had made.

"You're welcome." He replied, pulling the door open for her on it's one remaining hinge. Though before Victoire had a chance to cast a revealing charm, the humming noise became more promininent and turned into a revving.

Victoire pushed her cousin through the door, and followed him, shutting it behind her. Though the second she shut it, a gush of water splashed on both of them, pouring like a waterfall onto their heads and down their backs.

"The bloody idiot has a Thieves' Downfall over his back door!" Freddie shook his head, attempting to clear the water from his ears.

"How paranoid can you get?" Victoire wrang the water from her hair "What? Did he think we we're gonna kill him in his sleep or something?"

Lights flashed outside, the two now becoming very aware that they were now visible to everyone. Clicking came from the front door, Freddie and Victoire whipped their wands out in front of them, knowing now that it was too late to make themselves invisible again.

"If only we brought the damned cloak!" Freddie's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Ssshh!" Victoire pulled Freddie through the kitchen, and over to the pantry at the side of the room. They ran in, closing the door silently. Just in time, as it seemed the the other intruder in the house had now made his or her way into the room Freddie and Victoire had previously vacated.

They could hear rummaging, and footsteps as a stream of light shone under the door. Was he back yet? How? The others were supposed to make sure he stayed away. But they hadn't called when they were meant to. This whole situation had gotten awfully pear-shaped.

The two Weasleys held their breaths, hoping against hope that whoever was out there would not find them. They could make a quick getaway if the other intruder went upstairs for even a few minutes. A plan was already forming in their heads.

But, of course there was no point. The door opened as a dark sihlouette came into view, wand in hand, the light from the kitchen shining into the pantry. They would've made a run for it, only for the fact that a jet of purple light came crashing towards them.


End file.
